Va. House supports limiting university athletic fees

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The Virginia House of Delegates has given preliminary approval to a bill that would cap student athletic fees at the state’s public universities. The House voted unanimously Thursday to limit the amount of mandatory fees public universities can collect from students to pay for athletic programs. The measure is a top priority of Republican House Majority Leader Kirk Cox. Cox said students who don’t participate in athletics are paying too high a cost to help subsidize the small number of students who play intercollegiate athletics. Cox’s proposal is based on a report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the General Assembly’s watchdog agency. The report found that costs for auxiliary programs like athletics have been the biggest driver of increased college costs in Virginia.